Amazing Heroes #107

Originally published by: Fantagraphics
Publication date: November 15, 1986

Cover: Peter Laird


Contents:

*Turtle Boys (interview with Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, conducted by Thom Powers with an introduction from Mark Waid)


Turtle Tips:

*The Mirage Studios two-page spread seen at the opening of the interview was originally done for the Fantagraphics title New Age, but went unused for that publication due to its cancellation.  It would eventually be reprinted in TMNT (Vol. 1) #15.


Review:

Well, it's another one of THESE things, though I think I'm finally nearing the bottom of the random indie books the Turtles appeared in throughout the '80s.  By God, I have to be.

This appearance doesn't feature any comic material, only an interview, but it does offer some original art that was new at the time.  The cover is especially interesting, as you get to see Laird's renditions of a number of mainstream comic book characters like Superman, Batman and the Hulk.  There's also this one piece that I'd never seen before (by Peter Laird and Ryan Brown), Leonardo vs. a Xenomorph from Alien:

Think of it as a sequel to the cover from Anything Goes #5 that merely hinted at an encounter between the Turtles and the Aliens.

Though it's funny, seeing all these trademarked characters and IPs like Superman, Spider-Man and the Aliens being used by Eastman and Laird for crossover and satire art, all without permission.  It's a reminder that this was 1986 and the TMNT weren't on the mainstream radar yet.  Marvel, DC and 20th Century Fox couldn't give a shit if some nobody indie comic was using their characters for covers and insert artwork.  But let's see the Turtles try to get away with swiping those characters NOW and see what happens.  Lawsuit city.

Coming out in '86, there's a quaintness to the interview, as the Turtles were still a year away from hitting it big with their cartoon and toyline.  Eastman and Laird's egos are still fairly grounded and their boasts are extremely modest.  The interviewer asks them about their success in licensing and the pair gush over how exciting it was to get those Dark Horse pewter miniatures.  Like I said, "quaint".

If you've ever read an Eastman or Laird interview then there aren't many insights here that you won't find elsewhere.  They tell the same stories and answer the usual questions in their alarmingly consistent way ("Who are your inspirations?"  And they always, ALWAYS say Miller, Bode', Corben and Kirby).  The interest comes more from their attitudes being more terrestrial, a year before they were rocketed into multi-millionaire status and transitioned from artists to businessmen.

But that's all there really is to this thing.  It's a trade magazine that specializes in indie books, so the other features can be fun/bewildering to page through.  You'll find a few titles that withstood the test of time, like Elfquest, but the majority of this stuff is straight up "not even a Wikipedia article" territory.

Anyway, take this along with the Turtlemania one-shot and the earliest Palladium RPG sourcebooks, all of which were released in that 1985-86 timeframe, and you'll come away with a fairly colorful image of what the Turtles were like in that brief window between introduction and superstardom.  It was a time when the most exciting thing going on in the "franchise" were pewter miniatures.

"Quaint."

Usagi Yojimbo (Vol. 1) #10

Originally published by: Fantagraphics
Publication date: August, 1988

Art and Story by: Peter Laird
Letters by: Steve Lavigne

“The Crossing”

Summary:

In a small village, two children (a badger and a pig) are playing samurai and peasant. The badger is pretending to be a samurai, bullying the pig who is the peasant by making him clear all the stones in his path. Miyamoto Usagi witnesses this and intercedes. He explains that no true samurai is so arrogant and decides to tell the children a story.

In his younger days, having just finished his training with a master swordsman, Usagi went about looking for people to challenge. While walking along a riverbank, he spotted what he thought to be an old, fat priest in a robe and straw hat, fishing. He decided to have a little fun with him and, taking his bow and arrow, threatened to pin the priest against a tree unless he carried him across the river on his shoulders so his feet wouldn’t get wet.

The priest politely complied and carried Usagi across the river, Usagi cracking fat jokes all the way. Halfway across, however, the priest sank beneath the water’s surface and disappeared. Usagi was forced to swim the rest of the way and emerged soaking wet. A few minutes passed and the priest eventually surfaced, removing his robe and hat to reveal that he was Leonardo the Ninja Turtle all along. Usagi remembered their previous encounter and vowed to finish their battle once and for all.

The pair fought for hours, their strength and skill evenly matched. Eventually, Usagi spotted an opening and moved in to make the final blow. Unfortunately, he slipped on the muddy riverbank and fell flat on his back. Rather than strike him down, Leo extended a hand in friendship and complimented him on his swordsmanship.

Usagi then tells the children that he and Leonardo became good friends after that and proceeded to have many more adventures together. The point of the story, he spells out, is that you should treat everyone you meet with respect so as to make allies rather than enemies. The children take the lesson to heart and decide to play more fairly together, though the pig insists on pretending to be Leonardo.


Turtle Tips:

*Usagi last met Leonardo in “Turtle Soup and Rabbit Stew”. They will meet again in “The Treaty”.

*This issue establishes that, so far as Usagi’s chronology is concerned, his first two encounters with Leonardo happened in his early years.

*This issue also contained an unrelated Usagi Yojimbo story by Stan Sakai, “Blade of the Gods”.

*Oddly, this story has never been reprinted in an Usagi Yojimbo graphic novel collection. While "Usagi Yojimbo Book 3: Wanderer's Road" reprints Usagi Yojimbo #10, it does not include "The Crossing" (it does, however, include "Turtle Soup and Rabbit Stew"). Later, the Fantagraphics hardcover collection, Usagi Yojimbo Special Edition, also skipped over this story while still including "Turtle Soup and Rabbit Stew" and "The Treaty". Precisely why this story is consistently excluded from Usagi collections is unknown, though the likeliest reason is due to it being written and drawn by Peter Laird rather than Stan Sakai.


Review:

The six TMNT/Usagi Yojimbo crossovers can be easily bisected into two halves: three guest strips and then the three-part “Shades of Green” story arc. Of the first three guest strips, this one is my absolute favorite. Odd that it’s my favorite, too, as I actually prefer Sakai’s art to Laird’s, but I just enjoy this tale of how Usagi and Leo became friends over the other more comedy relief adventures written by Sakai.

Leo and Usagi certainly are two “kindred spirits”, and while these crossovers never got a whole lot of time for them to really interact and develop their friendship like the 4Kids cartoon series did, it was still fun to see them getting along rather than going at each other’s throats. The next crossover, “The Treaty”, is a great extension of that.

Laird’s style, though grittier and more detailed, actually meshes pretty well with Sakai’s universe of talking Japanese animals. His Usagi’s a little meaner looking than he ought to be, but otherwise fine. Their fight scene is full of dynamic poses and all, but just not enough actual sword-clashing for my money’s worth.

Anyhow, not much else to say. “The Crossing” is that vital little chapter in the TMNT/Usagi crossovers, establishing their friendship that’d run off into other Turtles franchises. Being the one installment drawn by Peter Laird also helps it stand out amongst the other chapters, which are all drawn by Sakai.

Grade: B+ (as in, “But how come Leo seemed to be the only Turtle suffering from side effects from Renet’s time scepter? Aw, who cares”.)